4.3 Mineral Resources

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Vocabulary

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gemstone-a hard colorful mineral that has a glassy luster
smelting-the process of separating useful metal from other minerals
alloy-a mixture of 2 or more metals
ore-a rock that contains a usful mineral
alloy-a solid mixture of two or more metals

Outline

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4.3 mineral resouces

• The use of minerals
  • minerals can be used for many reasons
• gemstones
  • gemstones are hard, colorful mineral that has a glassy luster
• Metals
  • metals are usful for many products
    • metal can be melted, stretched, and molded
• Other useful minerals
  • There are much more minerals than just gemstones and metals like quartz
• Ores
  • many minerals are in another mineral
    • copper is mostly found in chalcopyrite
    • useful minerals must be separated from their ores
• Prospecting
  • you must prospect for a deposit of minerals
• Mining
  • There three types of mines, strip mines, open pit mines, and shaft mines
    • strip mines make a scar on the surface of the earth
    • open pit mines start from the top and then decends lower and lower
    • shaft mining is getting ores deep in the ground without penetrating the surface
    • some types of mining can damage the land
• smelting
  • smelting removes the ore from the target mineral